Cannot believe this exchange has not been in heavy rotation around Charlotte. Maybe it is among Bank of America legal beagles.
The issue all along with BofA’s deal for Merrill Lynch was the non-disclosure to BofA shareholders the losses which Lewis anticipated from ML. The feds goonish strong-arming of the bank does not alter Lewis’ responsibility to disclose. Besides, I was much more sympathetic to Lewis’ situation before this latest round of congressional hearings disclosed that Lewis received counsel from his own people to pull out of the deal by citing material changes in the conditions with ML.
Turns out Lewis was not alone trying to stand up to the Fed and the Treasury in the closing days of last year. He was — as BofA has done for decades — wheelin’ and dealin’ with all comers, the federal government included. The picture that emerges now is not Lewis the victim, but Lewis the man who thought he had a plan. He figured $20b. in federal guarantees made the ML deal a no brainer.
He figured wrong.
